John Redwood

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Rt. Hon John Redwood MP sought clarification from both the Government and the Official Opposition in the debate to give Parliament power of approval over any decision by the British Government to go to war

16 May 2007

In the House of Commons yesterday, the Rt. Hon John Redwood MP sought clarification from both the Government and the Official Opposition in the debate to give Parliament power of approval over any decision by the British Government to go to war.

Mr. Redwood: Does my right hon. Friend think that the right time to hold the vote is just before a significant number of troops are committed, or should the vote take place before a high-level bombing campaign begins? These days, that is often in advance of the committing of troops.

Mr. Hague: Again, the conclusion that we come to on such matters must be the result of consultation between the parties. Indeed, there should be consultation outside Parliament, too. My view is that it would be impossible to lay down hard and fast rules that would cover every eventuality. I think that there ought to be a parliamentary debate and a vote before a major deployment of forces overseas, because, of course, there could easily be mission creep that took us from a deployment to actual fighting. As for a bombing campaign, we would have to distinguish between different circumstances. In the case of Kosovo, the international pressure and the build-up of forces were well flagged up before military action took place. In that case it would have been possible to hold a parliamentary debate and a vote. Of course, in a case where bombing is to be carried out as a surprise, it would not be wise to conduct a parliamentary debate beforehand.

Mr. Redwood: I quite understand the concern about committing troops on the ground, but what procedures should the House follow prior to a big missile bombardment or aerial bombardment—prior to the exercise of considerable force over a concerted period, not a sudden and extreme raid? I ask that question because when I tabled questions on the amount of bombing in recent years I was not given any answers.

Mr. Straw: The right hon. Member for Richmond, Yorks said that the matter we are discussing is not simple, and it is not. The question that the right hon. Member for Wokingham (Mr. Redwood) asks illustrates its complexity The exact circumstances in which this House should in advance have the right to give, or not give, its approval of military conflict decisions must be very carefully considered. Let us look back at the circumstances of the five major wars in which we have been involved and which I just mentioned. Were this new procedure in place, in each case there should have been a debate on a substantive motion, usually in advance—although perhaps, for special reasons, in the case of the Gulf war in retrospect, and an issue might also have been raised in respect of Afghanistan in 2001 to do with our treaty obligations. However, because this is not a simple matter we shall enter into a process of active consideration and consultation to ensure that we get it right and that we do so in a flexible way.

At the time of the Falklands war, the then Government followed precedent, as others before and since have done. Before 2003—the Lords report draws attention to this—there had been only one occasion when the House had voted in advance on a substantive motion: in July 1950 on the Korean war. The motion was agreed without a vote—after, I say to the right hon. Member for Richmond, Yorks, the then Leader ofthe House had persuaded the then Leader of the Opposition to withdraw his motion. I hope that the right hon. Gentleman takes note of that.